''For the British saxophonist also named Billy Paul, see the Wizzo Band.
Billy Paul
(born Paul Williams
, December 1, 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is a Grammy Award winning American soul singer, most known for his 1972 number-one single, "Me and Mrs. Jones". He was usually identified by his distinguishably raspy vocal.
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BILLY PAUL TICKETS
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Biography
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Paul began his
singing career when he was twelve, appearing on local
radio shows. Listening at home to his family's collection of
78s, Paul began developing a vocal style that would eventually incorporate traces of
jazz,
R&B and
pop.
Paul attended
Temple University, West Philadelphia Music School, and
Granoff School of Music, for formal vocal training. Switching from rock music to soul to pop ballads, he soon became known through his performances on the underground musical circuit in Philadelphia. Paul's popularity grew and led to appearances in clubs and at college campuses nationally. This led to further opportunities, appearing in
concert with
Charlie Parker,
Dinah Washington,
Nina Simone,
Miles Davis,
The Impressions,
Sammy Davis, Jr. and
Roberta Flack.
Paul formed a trio and cut his first record, "Why Am I" for
Jubilee Records before being drafted into the
Armed Services. After his discharge, he joined the New Dawn record label, and was a brief stand in for one of the
Blue Notes with Harold Melvin. His first Philly album,
Feeling Good at the Cadillac Club
combined Billy Paul and
Gamble/Huff produced songs, and was released on the Gamble Label. This was followed by
Ebony Woman
, a more commercial release on the Gamble & Huff
Neptune Label.
Later still,
Going East
, Paul's first album released on the
Philadelphia International Records label, placed him into the mainstream arena. However, it was with his second album that he received both commercial and critical recognition,
360 Degrees Of Billy Paul
, with "
Me and Mrs. Jones" being the most notable track.
"Me and Mrs. Jones" was a
No. 1 hit for the last three weeks of 1972, selling two million copies (platinum single status), and went on to win Paul a
Grammy Award. The
gold album and
platinum single broke the artist on world charts, including the
United Kingdom where the single entered the
Top 20 of the
UK Singles Chart reaching number 12 in early 1973.
[1]
In addition to receiving the Grammy, Paul has won several Ebby awards (given by the readers of
Ebony Magazine); has been the recipient at the
American Music Awards, the
NAACP Image Award and numerous proclamations and
keys to cities across the United States. He has also toured internationally in the
UK, and
Latin America.
Paul was on the Neptune Records label for many years. He recorded much other material of note, including "Am I Black Enough For You?", "Let's Make a Baby" and an alternate version of "
Let's Stay Together". Other songs he recorded include "Thanks for Saving My Life", "
Let 'Em In", "
Your Song", "Only the Strong Survive" and "Bring the Family Back".
See also
- Guests on Soul Train
- List of disco artists (A-E)
- R&B number-one hits of 1972 (USA)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of people from Philadelphia
- Philadelphia soul
- List of disco artists
- List of soul musicians
References
- British Hit Singles & Albums